Chicago, IL (Law Firm Newswire) December 27, 2013 - The EEOC filed a discrimination lawsuit against a Chicago restaurant group for refusing to hire African Americans.

“The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) took action to file a discrimination lawsuit against a local Chicago restaurant chain, Rosebud Restaurant Group, for not hiring African Americans in their Chicago locations. Despite the fact that racial discrimination is not legal, things like this continue to happen,” pointed out Timothy Coffey, a Chicago employment lawyer and principal attorney for The Coffey Law Office, P. C., an employment litigation firm dedicated to representing employees in the workplace. Widespread employer education by the EEOC aims to inform companies of what is considered to be illegal treatment of prospective and current employees. It appears there is still more work to be done in this sensitive area.

The chain’s owners issued a statement indicating that they do not discriminate toward any applicants or workers and believe in diversity in the workplace. In contrast, the EEOC investigation uncovered the fact that managers and the chain’s owner, Alex Dana, would not hire African Americans and that company-wide, they were referred to by any of a number of common racial slurs. Over the course of an eight-month period of the EEOC attempting to quash the alleged discriminatory practices, no headway was made and no acceptable agreement was reached to eliminate discrimination.

“Accordingly, the EEOC sought a permanent injunction to stop all ten restaurants from discrimination against workers and potential new hires. They also filed a request with the courts seeking punitive and compensatory damages, as well as back pay for African Americans denied employment. This is a bit unusual, in that they are seeking compensation for an unspecified number of African Americans, who were never hired and never worked and were never fired. It may be a bellwether case in the long run,” Coffey suggested.

For individuals who suspect they have been denied employment based on their race, or any of the other prohibited categories of discrimination, it is wise to seek expert employment legal counsel. This is a complex area of the law and understanding the nature of the issues, and any possible outcome of a lawsuit, is something a skilled attorney must outline to their client.